Presently, electronic devices, such as portable radios, are extensively used by many users, such as Policemen, and fire fighters, and they rely heavily upon them for performing their daily tasks. Specifically, a user continuously interacts with the portable radio by speaking into a microphone, or by pressing a push-to-talk button (PTT), or by listening to a speaker during transmission or reception. Therefore, it is an important concern of the manufacturers to facilitate the use of such electronic devices.
A portable radio may be carried by the user, or it may be transported by placing it in a vehicular adaptor. Generally, one of the convenient methods for carrying the radio is to place it in a carry holder. The carry holder includes a pocket for holding the portable radio, and it may be attached to the user by an attachment means. Subsequently, the radio may easily be taken out, when interaction with the radio is required. Accordingly, accessory devices may be used for ease of interaction. The accessory device extends radio's interaction elements, such as microphone, speaker, antenna, and push-to-talk button to provide a convenient interaction with the radio.
Presently, when the portable radio is being carried by the user, the accessory device and the radio are interconnected through a mating mechanism, which may include a screw for screwing the accessory device to a threaded insert on the portable radio. In this arrangement, a number of contacts on a radio universal connector present the proper interaction signals, such as PTT and audio signals, to corresponding contacts on a accessory device connector. Generally, an aligning mechanisms for the universal connector and the accessory device contacts is provided.
Additionally, an accessory device may connect to a radio via a vehicular adapter when the radio is transported in a car. The vehicular adapter may provide additional features, such as a battery charger, a power amplifiers, etc. In this arrangement, the accessory device is connected to the vehicular adapter through an accessory connector located inside the vehicular adapter. Operationally, the radio is inserted into a pocket on the vehicular adapter, and engages the accessory connector either automatically, or by manual actuation. Conversely, the radio may quickly be disengaged from the vehicular adaptor by pressing a button or another manual actuation. When engaged, a biasing mechanism in the vehicular adaptor maintains the connections between the vehicular adapter's accessory connector and the radio's universal connector.
In practice, when carrying the radio, it may be desirable or even necessary to engage and disengage the radio and the accessory device more quickly and conveniently. It will be appreciated that, engaging and/or disengaging the radio and the accessory device by an screw is cumbersome and time consuming. Additionally, the accessory device connectors are usually bulky, and may provide inconvenient when the portable radio is in use. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a more convenient arrangement for engaging or disengaging the portable radio to an accessory device.